Rudy Fernandez wants to stay in Portland, Andre Miller thinks he may be leaving

AOL Fanhouse | Feb 3

One Portland guard wants to stay long-term with the team. As for another, he wouldn't be surprised if he's soon traded.

Flash back a year or so ago and you'd have thought the guards in that situation would be Andre Miller wanting to stay and Rudy Fernandez preparing perhaps to be going elsewhere. Now, the roles look somewhat reversed.

In an interview with FanHouse before Wednesday's 109-90 loss to Denver at the Pepsi Center, Fernandez said he is interested in signing a long-term contract extension with the Trail Blazers. Yes, this is the same Fernandez who was fined $25,000 by the NBA last summer due to his agent publicly requesting a trade.

"Yeah, yeah,'' said Fernandez, who had recently confirmed to The Oregonian he no longer wants to be traded, said about now also wanting to sign long-term with Portland. "Right now, I feel good here. I feel good in the city and the team.''

Fernandez, who is under contract for next season but eligible for an extension this summer if rules remain the same under a new collective bargaining agreement, was asked if he hopes to talk to team officials after the season about such an extension.

"Yeah, absolutely,'' said Fernandez, the third-year man from Spain who said he no longer has the homesickness he once did due to his family spending more time in Portland and who likes now how he's being utilized by Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan.

Meanwhile, it was Miller who said in December 2009, when his name was in trade rumors, that Portland is "where I want to be'' and he's "comfortable.'' He's no longer that gung-ho about sticking around.

"I don't really care, really,'' Miller said when asked in a FanHouse interview Wednesday whether his hope now is to remain in Portland rather than be traded. "You know what I'm saying? I would like to stay put, but it's a business and anything can happen.''

When asked if he believes there's a decent chance he'll be moved by the Feb. 24 trade deadline, Miller said, "Yeah. Yeah.''

"There's a chance,'' Miller said. "A lot of guys can get moved. Where? I don't know. At this point, hopefully it's not a team that's rebuilding. I wouldn't want to go back to like a Philly situation.''

Miller played with the mediocre 76ers from midway through the 2006-07 season until signing with Portland as a free agent in the summer of 2009. He said he's not bothered by his name coming up in trade rumors.